23 May 2018

Nihonkoku Shoukan. Volume 1. Chapter 2 Part 5

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Author:

みのろう(Minorou)

Translator:

Yukkuri Oniisan!

Editor:

Online Grammar Editor!

Chapter 2

The Kingdom’s Miscalculation

Part 5

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Central calendar
Year 1639, Month 4, Day 25. Evening.

Port Maihark was in a great clamor like a madhouse.

Everyone raised their voices in wonder and admiration.
The citizens living nearby, the soldiers, and the sailors altogether were
gazing at the direction of the sea.

「What a huge thing!」

「Unbelievable, is that really a ship?」

「Is that a mountain floating on the sea?」

There were many shouts and yells.

Bruay was also doubting his own eyes. On the offshore,
there were several unbelievably large ships lined up.

Just by measuring with the eye, one of the ships had an
implausible estimated length of no less than 250m, which gave off a bizarre
presence. There were talks about how when the warship Pima made contact with Japan,
it boarded a 250 meter long ship, but he thought that they were just lying to exaggerate
their accomplishments. However, the reality was: ‘that ship really existed’.
Despite being anchored far away on the offshore, it was still absurdly large in
appearance and had no sails.

Eventually, something flew away from that large ship.

He had eyesight good enough that he could see that
there were people riding in it,so he understood
that it was some kind of vehicle. On the top of the vehicle, there was
something like an elongated board spinning around in high speed.

Although he previously had received a message about
how he would be picked up by the other party, when Bruay actually saw this
other way to fly in the sky that wasn’t a Wyvern, he was at loss for words. As
it approached, there was an unfamiliar ringing sound and a loud unnatural flapping
sound which put fear into the surrounding people. Eventually, a violent wind
began to blow as if it could blow away anything nearby.

When the vehicles had landed in the plaza, the wind
and the sounds gradually abated. A door on the vehicle’s side opened, a man
appeared from it and started to move with a steady gait towards the gathered crowd.

Bruay stepped forward and the man standing in front of
him saluted.

「Good day, I am Tsukasaki of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force’s Qua-Toyne
Principality Deployment Force. For this occasion, we have received an instruction
to pick up an observation officer from the Qua-Toyne Principality.」

Bruay replied in a hurry, while also being a bit impressed
by Tsukasaki's prompt behavior.

「Nice to meet you, I am Bruay, the operations staff of the Qua-Toyne Principality
Navy’s 2nd Fleet. I am grateful for the current reinforcements from Japan.」

「Umm, I believe that you had been informed in advance, but have you finished
your preparations for boarding?」

「Yes. I will be in your good hands.」

Bruay held his the luggage and timidly boarded the
vehicle ──something that was called a helicopter, 『MCH-101』[i]. There were no decorations inside the aircraft, but the seat was fluffy
and comfortable to sit on.

Once again, the helicopter’s engine speed accelerated and
there were a strange sensation of floating. Although it was somewhat slower
than a wyvern, there were no jerky vertical movements caused by flapping, and the
smooth ascend of the helicopter astonished Bruay. This vehicle could fly
without almost no shaking and was much more comfortable than a wyvern, moreover
it could transport large numbers of people or goods.

「This is…… amazing. Just how this vehicle works is beyond my understanding……」

Fortress City Ejei.

Around the time when the tension with the Louria Kingdom
was still high. As a preparation for a full conflict, Qua-Toyne Principality established
Fortress City Ejei as a key point to defend the possible invasion route from
the border to the Principality’s capital.

Since it was established as the absolute defense perimeter
of the Qua-Toyne Principality, it had a high strong wall and mechanisms in
every corner of the city to defend against invading enemies even if they
breached the walls.

Furthermore, the water spring that gushed forth inside
the wall and the huge stockpiles gathered in peacetime, make it impossible to succumb
to starvation tactics.

Approximately 30,000 soldiers of the Western Region
Division of the Qua-Toyne Army were stationed in this Fortress City. 50 Wyverns,
3000 Cavalry, 7000 Archers and 20,000 Infantry, they were the main force
Qua-Toyne Principality.

The General Nou, who command The Western Region
Division was confident that this Fortress City Ejei could repulse the incoming Louria's
invasion. The walls that reached as high as 25 meters will defend against invasion
from every hostile ground forces, and even to deal with attacks from the sky,
there were elite Wyverns trained for anti-air combat.

It was a complete impregnable, invulnerable, Iron Wall.
No matter how great the army will be, this city won’t fall.

「General of Nou, the gentleman from the Japan Ground Self Defense Force have
come.」

「So they come at last…… Let them in!」

He was cooperating because the government told him to
cooperate, but he honestly didn’t like the Japanese military who had rudely entered
his country. Japan has trespassed Qua-Toyne Principality’s airspace and made
contact after showing its force that capable of breaking through the military
air defense net. Since this was completely like a pressure diplomacy, this
impression displeased him.

Furthermore, when he heard the after-battle report of the
Grand Naval Battle of the Rodenius Sea that the large fleet of 4,400 Lourian
warships was stopped with only 8 ships, he laughed scornfully that it was too
dramatically embellished. There were few people in the Army who took the report
at face value, and so they had unreceptive reaction to it, surmising that this
was some kind of information manipulation in the report.

Meanwhile, a report said that about 20,000 Louria
Kingdom’s soldiers are heading towards Fortress City Ejei. Land battle is, after
all, where the number matters. This time, Japan had dispatched Ground Self
Defense Force 7th Division[1],
which had fewer than 6,000 people, and they were stationed at a Star-shaped base
about 5 km to the east of Ejei. With just 6 thousand men, they might be
effective if they attack the enemy unguarded, but they couldn’t be expected to
give a result that could influence the war situation, so he had a completely
negative evaluation of them.

More than anything else, he didn’t pleased with having
an army from another country in his country soil. The fact that the government
gave permission to use the land itself was very unacceptable to him, it was as
if they didn’t trust their own army. He had heard that the population of Japan is
120 million, so just sending 6,000 soldiers, it was as if they were quite
unwilling to participate.

In any case, he predicted that since his army would be
the one who repulses Louria, the Japan army will have no part to partake.

Then there was a knocking sound from the door of the reception
office.

Unlike jeweled and elegant clothes that Nou was wearing,
the three of them were wearing clothes with green and brown mottled pattern.

Nou couldn’t believe that this fellow is the general
of Japan’s expeditionary force.

「My, my, thank you very much for coming. I am Nou, the General of Qua-Toyne
Principality Western Region Division. I am grateful for the reinforcement.」

First of all, he started with a lip service.

「Japan's division commander-dono, the Lourian Army had conquered Gim and
will soon head towards Ejei. But as you can see, Ejei is an impregnable
fortress city. No matter how large an army is, it will be impossible to conquer
this city.」

Nou continued with an overbearing boast.

「Though it is extremely vexing, our country has been invaded by Louria and now
we are confronting that country and wagering our country’s fate. We swear by
our pride that we will repulse Louria Army. Gentlemen from Japan, please be at
ease, I only wish that you could give us rear line support without any need to leave
the base you had established.」

What Nou was trying to indirectly say was almost
straightforwardly: “Get out of our way”. As his intention to break the pride of
the Japanese was visible, his aides sitting nearby was having a cold sweat on whether
or not this will be a diplomatic problem.

「We understand. We will provide rear line support from our garrison. However,
we have a request……」

「…… What is it?」

「Since we need to report the position of the enemy and the war situation to the
Operations Headquarters, can we station about 50 observers on Ejei? Also, so
that we are always informed about the movement of Qua-Toyne Principality Army, I
would like to ask for permission to request a communication mage to accompany
us.」

「Observer Officers? Well, you should have a duty to report the war situation
to your home country too. I understand.」

With the minimum necessary information and greetings were
exchanged, the meeting ended.

When the Japanese officers left, Nou spoke to his aides.

「Does the Japanese Army have no pride? Or perhaps they are stupid to not
know the sarcasm?」

「Certainly, they have been dispatched by their country’s order, but if they are
located 5 km away from Ejei, they wouldn’t even be able to give a rear line
support. In practice, it was like they are told not to do anything. Perhaps
their own country had told them to not be a hindrance for our country.」

「Or perhaps, they are being cowards. With only 6 thousand people, even against
Louria Kingdom’s Advance Force, they wouldn’t last 1 hour. At any rate, since
they are shielded by Ejei, their base should have no great defense capability
either.」

「At any rate, even without borrowing Japan’s help, as long as we have the defense
from Ejei’s impregnable wall, we will repulse Lourian soldiers without fail.」

General Nou and his staff only glared at the plains
beyond them, without even giving any attention to the JSDF.

While in the middle of the flight to the mother ship, he
kept admiring the usefulness of the helicopter.

When the helicopter approached the carrier anchored offshore,
he was overwhelmed by the size of the mother ship that was incomparable when
seen from the faraway shore.

(What’s with this ship size‼ …… Ah, I understand, if the ships are this big,
then a large number of personnel could board it, and so when it becomes a melee
fight, they could capture the enemy ship one by one through overwhelming numbers.
As the number of captured ships increased, the fighting power will also be
quickly increased, so this one ship alone would certainly be able to deal with dozens
of ships.)

Using his own knowledge and logic, he was trying to make
sense of the helicopter destroyer.

It was the largest destroyer[sic] of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force that could
handle the arrival and departure of five helicopters at the same time.[iii]

Bruay alighted on the ship deck that was wide enough for
a cavalry battle.

(The floor is hard…… This is…… made from iron? How could it float in the
sea? What kind of magic is this? A ship should be constructed from wood……)

With the incomprehensible fact of an iron ship floating
in the sea as the beginning, Bruay’s confusion kept increasing.

As he was told by Tsukasaski, he entered the ship’s interior.

(…… The inside…… is bright. Did they burn something? No, light magic? Is
this a Magic Ship?)

After being guided into the ship interior that was so wide
that it felt like an illusion, Bruay arrived at the bridge and met with the
captain.

This time, Bruay saluted without any delay.

「I am Bruay, the navy operations staff representative of the Qua-Toyne Principality.
We are grateful for the reinforcements.」

「Nice to meet you, I am this ship’s captain, Yamamoto. This might be sudden,
but we have already located the position of the armed insurgent ships. It’s
about 500 kilometers west from this location. Their speed is very slow, about 5
knots[iv],
but they are heading towards our direction. So we planned to leave tomorrow
morning and issue a warning to the armed insurgents to turn back. If they don’t
abide, then after we fire a warning shot, we will eliminate them entirely. So
please relax yourself inside the ship until tomorrow.」

「Eliminate them entirely...... Eliminate, entirely?」

How absurd. There were only 50 Qua-Tonean ships and 8 Japanese
ships. Only 58 vessels couldn’t possibly confront 4,400 vessels.

「Ah, no. Of course if the enemy turns back, or begins to surrender or
escape, then we will refrain from attacking.」

「That's not what I meant…… Certainly our country’s fleet has prepared 50 ships.
Will we perform this operation with only 58 ships? This might be rude to ask, but
have you been informed of the enemies’ number?」

Bruay was concerned that Japan hadn’t been informed of
the enemy’s size.

「We have been informed of the number of the armed insurgent ships. We have already
informed the staff that there will be no need for escorts from the Qua-Toyne
Navy, so we will ensure Bruay-dono’s safety. Please be at ease while performing
your duties.」

Bruay was surprised again. The Japanese intended to
challenge a huge fleet of 4,400 ships by themselves without cooperating with
the Qua-Toyne Navy.

✦✧✦✧✦

Bruay’s diary of
that day

I boarded the Japanese ship safely as the Qua-Toyne
Principality’s citizen.

The flight until the ship was extremely comfortable, the
interior of the metal ship with a size beyond the norm also had a fixed
temperature. In addition, it is bright even at night. Although I should be in
the middle of the sea, the swaying of the waves are inexistent. Everything is
out of common sense and so, I am very astonished.

In my meeting with the captain, when he told me that
they will challenge Lourian’s 4,400 warships with just 8 ships, I at first thought
that they were suicidal. But after I observed this ship’s interior, its size,
and then its metal construction, then I understood that fire arrows or ballista
wouldn’t be able to damage it for sure.

On the other hand, the ship's deck is so high, so the
arrows fired from that higher altitude will surely hit the enemy ships. There
are no fixed-installed weapons like a ballista, but it is highly probable that the
weapons are portable and will be deployed when they enter battle preparations. Although
for a moment, I was in despair that there were only 8 ships, there is a
possibility that enemy’s attacks won’t be effective against this ship. Japan
seems to possess absolute confidence in the battle.

To be this nervous as an observer officer, this is the
first time I’ve felt this way ever since I had been born.

Lieutenant General Oouchida Kazuki, the Division Commander
of the Japan Ground Self Defense Force’s 7th Division, and his staff officers were
talking about the meeting in Ejei that was held earlier.

「Nou-dono is so adamant to assign us to rear line support. It seems that he
wanted to minimize our casualties in the frontline.」

「I am really grateful that he was that concerned about us. If we are talking
about rear line supports from our HQ, then it will be mainly composed of attacks
from the artillery regiments’ guns, correct? If it becomes a melee battle, then
there is a possibility that it will strike friendly army so we must be really careful
when using it.」

「Before it became a melee battle, we need to weaken the enemy as much as
possible with fire support. However, if we don’t warn Louria Kingdom’s army, the
damage inflicted on them would be no different than a massacre. At the very
least, I want to issue a warning prior to the attack.」

「Should we issue a warning using a heli?」

「Yes, but as long as the enemy isn’t accompanied by hostile Dragon Knights. It
will be an intolerable disaster if a heli was downed by a wyvern.」

「Then, let’s call for some air support in the sky.」

Despite some misunderstandings, they steadily continue
their preparation for the threats that will soon appear.

✦✧✦✧✦

Central Calendar Year 1639, Month 7, Day 22. Fortress
City Ejei

About 20,000 soldiers from the Advance Force of the Louria
Kingdom’s Eastern Lords Division marched until 5 kilometers west from Fortress
City Ejei, without encountering any enemy forces. In the order, they must
advance until reaching a location 2 kilometers away from the city. But because of
a bad hunch he had, Jean-Philia avoided making camp too deep into the enemy’s
territory.

They will stay at this location for a week and perform
reconnaissance in force.

In all, the armored division had about
6,500 men, 230 tanks, about 350 Type 89 and Type 73 armored personnel carriers,
40 self-propelled howitzers, 48 mortars (81-mm and larger), 12 106-mm
recoilless weapons, 40 35- and 40-mm self-propelled air defense systems, along
with other armament and support systems, making it the most well-armed Japanese
division

40 comments:

This like Modern weapon in another worldWhen artillery battalion equipped with MLRS and all kind of Wheeled-artillery tanks rained down barrage of Thermobaric rounds which instantly killed 30.000 soldiers.

.....I'm not even sure where to correct the western propaganda.Thermobaric rounds are no more efficient than normal explosives, they just don't mix an oxidizer into it so it uses oxygen from the atmosphere, that is all. It's not in any way better than Composition 4 or TNT flakes.

As for the 'inhumane suffocate the enemy', that is even more bullshit propaganda, the medical condition is called 'Blast Lung' and it happens with ALL explosives. The 'Thermobaric = better + evil' is a media manipulation.

Meh, it's probably because thermobaric weapons sound exotic. They're efficient in not needing their own oxidizer, but that also limits how they are used. NATO doesn't stock much of them, but Russia has man-portable thermobaric rockets, so there's also that.

It is a problem in that there simply isn't enough men for it to function as a working 'Division'. If the equipment list is correct then the only thing that formation could be is a 'holdings' formation where they use it to keep equipment and train on them. These formations are not combat worthy in that you cannot throw them straight into battle. I bet if war comes, this division is going to be scattered out and loaned to the other army units as support.

The general must be very stupid i mean his know the japanese population is 120 milion yet his still think that japan is week. Dont his know that the strength of a country proportional to it population at least in medieval time

Well he only knows the number but not the structure of the country his identifying in weakly terms. There are countries with huge population but doesn't mean have massive military forces. So that General see in that way but he'll know soon once Japan fired off a warning then if the enemy didn't retreat, massacre unfolded again like what happen in the sea and in the plains where the demi-humans were moving far away from the battle until Japan Ground Force and Air Force hammered down to those enemy cavalries.

Slime is correct, even if the whole country is not military, conscription solves that very fast. A nation's military power IS dependent on population especially since it can tap the manpower very fast like conscription in the US in WWII or Vietnam. A medieval society should know this most of all. It's just a plot hole. 120 million for a medieval society puts them in the superpower bracket easily.

To give an example, the British Empire, who at that time controlled an empire WORLDWIDE, had a total population of 412 million people. Compare a worldwide empire of 410 million vs a single country of 120 million. Japan can easily dominate a continent through manpower alone.

Rogue Ascendant in medieval time at least the country population show how strong a country is. I mean to maintain a country with that amount of population without civil unrest show the country has a very strong military and economic power and even if the country doesnt has it on standing army and use conscription system with that amount of population their can create a very large army even if their only conscript 3% of their population and that is more than 3 milion people.

It's not that. The General is complaining, how Japan only send 6000 men to QuaTOyne when they have 120 million population, "are they really want to wage a war or not?". In his mind, Japan should send several ten thousands or even a hundred thousand.

If its the US military, they would notice about this medieval general arrogant personality and true intention in mere glance. Japan is too pacifism of themselves even in a new world. Either way, it just gonna end a massacre for the enemies of their army even if fired a warning shot since morality and values there are pretty low in a time where civilization is still mediocre, uneducated and full of bloodshed.

No they wouldnt. The term 'rear line support' in medieval ages means shame and is supposed to used as an insult, saying 'you're too weak/we don't need you'. In modern 21st century, however, the term 'rear line support' means fire long range artillery to decimate regiments and divisions/weaken them in order to relieve the stress for the front line. The US army would see it as a request of help not as an insult.

Unless you're implying that the US army is retarded and always wants to be at the front where they risk the lives of thousands of soldiers. If that was the case not many soldiers would be coming back from afg and syr.

Yeah sorry about that, my bad. I end up mistaken thinking about that and I won't assume the US retarded. I know very well how conduct they are when in comes to tactical and strategic plans. I just mistakenly see that how verse they are in frontlines when going back in WW2 not the modern criteria I'm assuming.